Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, claimed; the Biden administration turned down the state’s request for money to restore houses damaged by Hurricane Ian.
DeSantis told on Monday, FEMA had declined to provide the Governor’s office with the $25 million in emergency aid for hurricane recovery that was needed for “Affected individuals and verified volunteers with materials to execute temporary and permanent repairs on their destroyed houses.”
At a press conference, the governor said, “Unfortunately, we learned last week, FEMA had denied our request for funding our state-led housing efforts, claiming their, quote, “limited jurisdiction/authority.” “However, we won’t simply accept “no” as a response. We want to get rid of red tape. Whether or not FEMA wants to participate, we want to provide help to Floridians who have been affected.”
To help carry out the housing program, which DeSantis said 1,500 people have already applied for over the past two weeks, the state has declared it will donate millions of dollars in state funds. The funds will be used to buy supplies “required to get a home into a condition that will allow a relocated resident to return safely while they complete permanent repairs on their property” as well as building materials.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) claimed in a statement provided to Newsweek, it has little power to approve money for this kind of activity and that it was “unable to confirm if their strategy will genuinely meet the outcomes of an emergency housing mission.”
